Six months later, on the training grounds for soldiers, "Clang," Jeane and Max's swords clashed. They both jumped back to keep their distance. Jeane smiled, then relaxed her stance and sheathed her sword at her hip. Seeing Max put his sword away, Max also relaxed his stance and sheathed his own.
"That's enough for today. I'm heading back to my cabin; I have some things to take care of. If you want to keep training, you can, but don't overdo it," Jeane said.
"Understood, sis. Thanks for the lesson," Max replied.
Jeane stepped forward and stroked Max's head with a smile. Then, she turned and walked away, leaving Max alone as he watched her go. Once she was out of sight, Max immediately turned and ran into the forest, continuing until he reached a clearing in the middle of the woods, right in front of a large, hill-like rock with no plants on it.
"Okay, let's begin," Max said.
Max stood motionless, closing his eyes. His skin suddenly turned a pale gray, like a corpse, and the tattoos that covered his body began to appear through his clothes. He slowly opened his eyes, revealing his red eyes.
"Now... I'm going to try out my power," Max muttered to himself, raising his palms.
"Tap," Max clenched his fists, and instantly, his hands were covered in black fire, like the dark element magic he had been learning with Leroy and his wife, Tania, since he'd been at the mercenary camp. Then he spread his hands and opened his fists. A black, fire-like light fell to the ground and became a black-bodied ghost soldier wearing armor with the face of one of the slaves he had known, which he called a "soul phantom."
He then summoned several more soul phantoms and finally called upon all 125 of the soul phantoms that were in his body, creating a black, faceless ghost army with only eyes and a mouth. After all the soul phantoms lined up in front of him like soldiers, Max raised his palms, and all the soul phantoms went back into his hands. Once all the soul phantoms were back in his body, he clenched his fists, which were coated in black fire again, and imagined what weapon he wanted to summon.
He tried summoning a long sword, an axe, a crossbow, a modern pistol, a carbine rifle, and finally, a sniper rifle. All of them were black and shrouded in a black fire-like aura. Then he walked away from the rock and turned to face it. He raised his palm toward the rock and held his wrist.
"Dark Ball,"
A black ball, which was rolling like a small ball of light, appeared in his palm and "whoosh," immediately shot toward the rock. "Boom," the rock was instantly left with a hole and exploded from the inside when the black ball entered the large rock. Max looked at his palm.
"Hmm... now I can summon soul phantom soldiers and weapons, and I can use dark element attack magic without saying a spell—just by thinking about it. My six months of training weren't for nothing," Max said to himself.
He was quiet for a moment. His skin returned to normal, and his red eyes went back to being blue. Then he walked to the rock, turned, and leaned against it with his arms crossed over his chest, thinking.
"Now, what's left to try is my innate 'Gluttony' skill—the skill that can swallow the soul of a person, animal, or monster for me to eat... so I can summon as many soldiers as needed. Then I remember reading about 'Dark Plague,' which poisons enemies and gives them a deadly disease. Lastly, there's 'Dark Mist,' which can disorient and mislead someone, and the final skill is 'Dark Wings'—summoning wings to fly in the air—but I still haven't been able to summon them because the book only had the incantation, not the image," Max muttered to himself.
He then changed his body back into a corpse-like state and turned to face the rock. He extended both palms to the rock and "Creak," he pushed the large, hill-like rock. Max looked at his palms, then he returned to his normal form and tried to push the rock again. This time, the rock didn't move at all, even though Max pushed with all his might until his face turned red. After making sure he couldn't,
"My strength is also incredible when I'm in a zombie-like form, but when I turn back into a human... I'm weak... doesn't matter, though," Max muttered, looking at his hands and seemingly finding his purpose.
Max leaned back against the rock, then he sat down, leaning against the rock and looking up at the blue sky.
"I guess I should borrow a dark element magic book from Tania. To be honest, I'm starting to get interested. Right now, I can only do a 'Dark Ball' because I once read about it and saw what it looked like in a book when I was at Tania's house. I want to learn more. Tania and Leroy once mentioned a magic academy in the capital of the Phanteos Kingdom. I wonder if Jeane would let me study dark element magic at the academy," Max asked himself.
After thinking, Max finally started to feel relaxed. The gentle breeze and the sound of leaves rustling, plus the warmth of the sunlight filtered through the trees, made Max sleepy. His head began to nod, and his eyes started to close. Max slid down and lay among the grass. The sunlight on his face made him even sleepier, and he finally fell asleep.
***
"Hey, Max... Max... Maaaaaax!"
A little girl's voice called out. "Huh," Max woke up and slowly opened his eyes. He saw the face of a beautiful little girl with two blonde braids, a sharp nose, and green eyes, very close to his face. She was on top of Max.
"Wake up, Max! Why are you sleeping here? Mama at the orphanage is looking for you. I've been all over the camp just to find you," the girl said, right in front of Max's face.
"Ugh... what does Mama want now, Maya? I was sleeping so well," Max said, closing his eyes again.
"Get up! Mama called for you. She wants you and me to watch the others at the orphanage because she's going to the monastery in the capital of Phanteos for a two-day trip," Maya said, pulling on Max's hand.
"Ugh... why us? You do it. You're already 11," Max said lazily.
"Grrr... we're only a year apart! Come ooooon," Maya yelled, still pulling Max's hand.
"Okay, okay... you're so annoying," Max said, getting up and sitting.
"Whoaaaa," Max raised his hands to stretch and yawned widely.
"Come on, we have to take care of our little brothers and sisters," Maya said.
"Hmph."
Max extended his hand for Maya to pull. With a pout on her face, Maya immediately grabbed Max's arm with both of her hands and pulled with all her might. "Whoaaaaa," Maya fell backward, and now Max was on top of her.
"Hehe... my turn," Max said.
"Huh... g-get off," Maya said shyly.
"Okay, let's go," Max said, standing and extending his hand to help Maya up.
"Thanks, Max," Maya said shyly.
Maya took Max's hand and stood up. After that, they ran to the orphanage at the camp, which was their home, to see their mother, a nun who was the head of the orphanage, holding hands cheerfully.